Assessment of genetic diversity among some Indian wheat cultivars using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers

Genetic relationship study was performed with RAPD primers among 20 Indian wheat accessions (17 hexaploids, 2 tetraploids and 1 diploid). A total of 372 bands were observed using 25 RAPD primers, of which 323 (86.8%) were polymorphic. The total number of amplification products per primer ranged from 5 (OPO-02) to 30 (OPH-01) with an average of 14.8±1.15 bands per primer. The size of PCR products ranged from 162 bp to 2529 bp. A significant corelation (0.933, p<0.01) was observed between the total number of bands and the number of polymorphic bands. Sixteen primers amplified 30 unique bands for specific genotypes that would prove to be highly useful in identification of genotype and designing future breeding strategy. The similarity coefficient values ranged from 0.52 to 0.82, indicating high genetic variability among the wheat genotypes. The 20 wheat genotypes were grouped into two major clusters. Cluster I had the diploid genotype T. urartu, tetraploid variety WH 896 and hexaploid variety PBW 175. Rest of the 16 hexaploid varieties and a tetraploid variety (Khapli) were placed in the other major cluster.